Bay Bread delivery specialist, Brad Bivens moves a double arm load of fresh baked break to the delivery truck enroute to one of several restaurant who buy the bread daily. BY MIKE KEKA/THE CHRONICLE

Photo: MIKE KEPKA

Bay Bread delivery specialist, Brad Bivens moves a double arm load...

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DECANTING KNOWLEDGE: Students at the Culinary Institute of America attend classes in the former Christian Brothers winery

DECANTING KNOWLEDGE: Students at the Culinary Institute of America...

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Marion Cunningham teaches students to cook from her quaint kitchen in her Walnut Creek home. They created a herb sauce which can be used on seafood, salad, pasta, potatoes, etc. CHRONICLE PHOTO BY DEANNE FITZMAURICE

A worker removes the baked cookie off a hot plate to fold a fortune into to make fortune cookies at Golden Gate Fortune Cookies in China Town.
BY ROBIN WEINER/THE CHRONICLE

Photo: ROBIN WEINER

A worker removes the baked cookie off a hot plate to fold a fortune...

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A sake martini at Z bar at the Nikko Hotel. Photo By Lea Suzuki

Photo: LEA SUZUKI

A sake martini at Z bar at the Nikko Hotel. Photo By Lea Suzuki

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The Dominican Sisters at Mission San Jose in Fremont have bottled olive oil from olives they harvested from trees at the Mission. They are using the money raised to save their historic buildings.
CHRONICLE PHOTO BY DEANNE FITZMAURICE

Photo: DEANNE FITZMAURICE

The Dominican Sisters at Mission San Jose in Fremont have bottled...

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SECOND-GRADER TENDS THE COMMUNITY GARDEN AT ALLEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL IN SAN BRUNO. PHOTO BY MICHAEL MALONEY/CHRON 09/27/94

Photo: MICHAEL MALONEY

SECOND-GRADER TENDS THE COMMUNITY GARDEN AT ALLEN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL...

101FOOD1-01-C-26JAN01-FS-MK - On a Saturday morning, Kalayada Beutel of K&J Orchards in Winters, CA can't move fast enough for the customers interested in the assortment of pears and apples at the weekly Ferry Plaza Farmer's Market. BY MIKE KEPKA/THE CHRONICLE

Photo: MIKE KEPKA

101FOOD1-01-C-26JAN01-FS-MK - On a Saturday morning, Kalayada...

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Dim Sum servers, Mei Lung, Co Co Chan, and Lu Qing prepare to wheel their carts filled with tantalizing delicacies out to a lunchtime crowd at Yank Sing in San Francisco. BY MIKE KEPKA/THE CHRONICLE

Co-owner of Cowgirl Creamery, Peggy Smith sets up a her San Francicso store front with dozens of varieties of cheese from her creamery and all over the world. BY MIKE KEPKA/THE CHORNICLE

Photo: MIKE KEPKA

Co-owner of Cowgirl Creamery, Peggy Smith sets up a her San...

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Molinari Deli worker, Maurizio Arcidiacono hurries past the a wide aray of dried salami that hangs from the ceiling of Joe Mastrelli's North Beach deli. BY MIKE KEPKA/THE CHRONICLE

Photo: MIKE KEPKA

Molinari Deli worker, Maurizio Arcidiacono hurries past the a wide...

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Stacks of Scharffen Berger chocolate wait to be hand wraped at the South San Francisco factory. BY MIKE KEPKA/THE CHRONICLE

Photo: MIKE KEPKA

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SAN FRANCISCO ARTIST TOM FOWLER AT FARLEY'S COFFEE HOUSE ON 1315 18TH ST. IN POTERO HILL. DISPLAYED AT FARLEY'S COFFEE HOUSE THROUGH AUG. 1ST IS HIS LATEST WORK "MUD"-TWENTY STUDIES OF COFFEE CUPS- A COLLAGE OF PAINTINGS AND DRAWINGS. CHRONICLE STAFF PHOTO by TIMOTHY BATT

What Washington D.C. is to politics, San Francisco is to food. Increasingly, we are becoming the culinary capital of the United States.

When you climb into a cab, the talk quickly turns to restaurants. On a bumpy shuttle ride to the airport, tourists swap stories about where they dined. And when you visit farmers' markets, you will find truck drivers and technology czars meeting over Meyer lemons and goat cheese.

Clark Wolf, a well-known New York-based restaurant consultant, says that he brings clients to the Bay Area to give them a taste of what's happening. "San Francisco starts trends," he says. "New York grows them."

The evidence is all around us. Fusion cooking, small plates from all over the world, the love of artisan cheeses and breads all started here and found their way east.

Many factors have brought us to the place we are today. Here is a look at four of them.

The Gold Rush. In the early 1850s, the Bay Area was largely inhabited by prospectors coming to the West Coast to seek their fortunes. They needed places to eat, and diversions to pass the time. Bars and houses of ill repute sprung up on just about every corner. The competition was so stiff, so to speak, businesses distinguished themselves not by the pretty girls, but by which kitchen could produce the best free lunch. From that time forward, the link between food and carnal pleasure became inextricably intertwined. That's the polar opposite of life on the East Coast, where a strong Puritan ethic prevailed - food was survival; it was never meant to nourish the soul.

When restaurateurs such as Wolfgang Puck from Los Angeles or Drew Neiporent from New York open in San Francisco, they are amazed at our lust for food. In Northern California, we aren't afraid to indulge ourselves - and that means we love butter, foie gras and duck confit.

Yet, we are also very health-conscious, which is why when California food is mentioned, first thoughts are of salads and light fare. It seems ironic that we're the nation's top consumer of wine, and the smallest consumer of sugar, but it's all part of the Bay Area psyche. Statistics compiled less than two years ago by ACNielsen, the nation's largest market research firm, show that as consumers we love bottled water, fresh salad dressings, eggs and yogurt; we hate tobacco products, baking mixes, canned vegetables and carbonated sodas.

Our politics may be left-of-center, but our food choices are based on moderation. For us, food is health, food is pleasure. In a word, food is everything.

Our location. It doesn't hurt that San Francisco and the Bay Area are surrounded by some of the world's best farmland. Every great culinary region of the world is connected to vineyards, and we make world-class wine right in our backyard.

Statistics show that California, with heavy contributions from the Bay Area, leads the country in producing artichokes, asparagus, Brussels sprouts, broccoli, carrots, celery, garlic, lettuce, melons, onions and specialty lettuces, just to name a few. And much of it is organic.

Our mild climate provides a year-round bounty of great products, and that contributes to our fanaticism about freshness.

And our climate has another impact - the ocean breezes that contribute to the chilly fog help to promote a hearty appetite.

The tourists. We may curse our crowded airports and city streets clogged with unfamiliar drivers, but tourists have helped fuel the restaurant industry, and have made the Bay Area a mecca for other food-related businesses.

A 1999 nationwide survey conducted for the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau shows that eating out is America's No. 1 hobby. The sheer number of restaurants concentrated into an area that's relatively small - not to mention, beautiful - brings people to the Bay Area. Survey respondents also picked San Francisco as the nation's No. 1 restaurant town, ahead of New York City and New Orleans.

It's little wonder that we spend more money dining out and we have more restaurants per capita than any other city. It's big business here, too - more than 20,000 people are employed by full-service restaurants in San Francisco.

Our diversity. The Bay Area has one of the largest Asian and Latino populations in the country. Census statistics show that about a third of San Francisco's residents are foreign-born, and demographers predict that before the year 2040 Latinos will comprise more than 50 percent of California's population. That means even more changes in how we eat. You can find lots of "authentic" ethnic restaurants, but more and more flavors are blending and we're building a distinctive cuisine.

Our annual guide to the Bay Area's Top 100 Restaurants, published last Sunday in Datebook, includes a popular category you won't find in other cities - California Cuisine - reflecting our continuing passion for food that's fresh, vibrant and unique. That uniqueness extends even to our "authentic" Italian or French restaurants, which add ingredients that you generally won't find in similar restaurants elsewhere. Our menus contain influences from Europe, Asia and Latin America. This merging of cultures is organic. It's ingrained, it's natural, it's what California cuisine is all about.

Today's issue of the Food section is dedicated to exploring all these elements - the shops, the restaurants, the people - that have brought us here and make us a culinary mecca.

But in the end it boils down to one thing: our passion for the best. Great food really is like politics - once you get a taste for it, you want more.

-- Artisan bread. In the beginning, Isidore Boudin's San Francisco sourdough sustained the 49ers. Now, 150 years later, San Francisco has become the incubator for the nation's growing hand-crafted bread community. In Northern California, we not only care about bread - we obsess about it.

Among the worthy contenders for the Bay Area bread enthusiast's dollars: Acme, Artisan, Bay Bread (pictured above), Bay Village, Brother Juniper, Della Fattoria, Grace, Metropolis, Noe Valley, Panorama, Semifreddi and Wild Flour. Maybe we could live by bread alone. . -- Wine Country. More than half of the 1,600 commercial wineries in the U.S. are in California. And nearly two-thirds of those are concentrated in Northern California, many of them within an hour's drive of San Francisco. Napa County has 232 wineries; Sonoma, 172; Mendocino, 41; Santa Cruz, 35; Alameda, 22; and Amador, 21. . -- Women chefs. In the 1970s and early 1980s, talented Bay Area women broke the glass ceiling in the professional kitchen, emerging as top chefs in important restaurants.

The large list of notable women chefs in Bay Area kitchens today includes Alice Waters, below, Judy Rodgers of Zuni Cafe, Nancy Oakes of Boulevard, Traci des Jardins of Jardiniere, Loretta Keller of Bizou, Elizabeth Falkner of Citizen Cake, Julia McClaskey of Dine, Cindy Pawlcyn of Mustards and Donna Scala of Bistro Don Giovanni. -- French Laundry. Some critics say Thomas Keller's restaurant is the best in the country. No other chef has such a keen food sensibility and sense of whimsy. The choices on the fixed price menu change often, but Keller's developed some classics - Tongue and Cheek, layers of veal cheeks and tongue; Oysters and Pearls, oysters with tapioca; Coffee and Doughnuts, a blend of tiny doughnuts and a cappuccino semifreddo. Set in a 100-year-old stone laundry surrounded by lush gardens, it's the closest thing America has to a three-star country French restaurant. French Laundry, 6640 Washington St., Yountville; (707) 944-2380 -- Dry salami. San Francisco's Italian immigrants established the first salumerias on the West Coast and made dry salami - a special kind of cured meat that is made only in the Bay Area and in Italy and hung from the rafters of Bay Area delis like Molinari (pictured above). The Molinari and Cariani sausage companies go back to the 1890s, and most other companies now making salami in the Bay Area trace their heritage to these two veterans. Chefs like Paul Bertolli of Oliveto are taking up the cause and creating their own versions.

-- Artichokes. The nation's entire commercial artichoke crop comes from California, 75 percent of it near Castroville in Monterey County. It's the artichoke capital of the world, but the realm also includes the lush fields along the San Mateo and Santa Cruz county coasts.

-- Food literati. Beyond the dozens of cookbook authors who live and write here, the Bay Area has long been home for writers who take a narrative approach to food. The late M.F.K Fisher lived in Sonoma. Ruth Reichl, Gourmet magazine editor, whose second memoir, "Comfort Me With Apples," is due out in April, started her food writing career in Berkeley in the 1970s. Other modern- day food literati include Frances Mayes ("Under the Tuscan Sun") and essayist Fran Gage ("Bread and Chocolate").

-- Designer sausage. In the 1970s, Bruce Aidells was a scruffy biologist with a doctorate from the University of California at Santa Cruz trying to sell garlic sausage in Berkeley. Today, he is the undisputed king of sausage. But he's not the only sausage-maker who makes Northern California a modern sausage mecca. Among dozens of others is Gerhard Twele, who, since 1985, has been making sausage like chicken with basil and pine nuts under the Napa Valley Sausage label.

-- Willie Bird Restaurant. The unassuming and unbelievably busy restaurant in Santa Rosa opened 20 years ago as a way to show off Willie Bird turkeys - the Bay Area's most famous free-roaming, all-natural bird. Turkey farmer Willie Benedetti and his family serve hot, turkey dinners and other turkey dishes 365 days a year.

-- Zinfandel. Although the origin of Zinfandel is still a mystery, it's considered California's own wine grape. The grape is grown throughout the state, but nowhere more successfully than in Sonoma County and the Sierra Foothills. Labels to look for include Ridge, Limerick Lane, DeLoach, Ravenswood, Sausal, Rosenblum and Montevina.

-- Vella dry Monterey jack cheese. Ig Vella's dry Monterey jack cheese from Sonoma has won so many American Cheese Society competitions that the group finally named it beyond compare. The Sonoma cow's milk cheese is rubbed with cocoa, pepper and oil and aged three months to four years.

Vella Cheese Co., 315 Second St. East, Sonoma; (707) 938-3232.

-- Ice cream. The whole country screams for Bay Area ice cream, specifically Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream of Oakland and Swensen's, started in 1948 at the corner of Union and Hyde streets in San Francisco. Dreyer's was founded by candy maker William Dreyer and Joseph Edy in 1928. Known as Edy's east of the Mississippi, Dreyer's is now the largest U.S. ice cream maker and a major distributor of other premium brands, such as Ben & Jerry's. Earle Swensen started his sweet dispensary after World War II service in 1948, franchised the business in 1964 and sold out his share 20 years later. There are now about 200 Swensen's world-wide, with the main plant in Arizona.

Swensen's, 1999 Hyde St., San Francisco; (415) 775-6818.

-- Classic California grills. Gold Rush-era Tadich Grill, founded in 1849, and Sam's Grill, founded in 1867, and their ilk offer honest simplicity, first- rate fish and sourdough bread so aromatic that it perfumes the room.

-- Farm-raised oysters. The original '49ers loved to gorge themselves on oysters, especially the delicious tiny Olympias, which are native to San Francisco Bay and points north. But over-harvesting and water pollution took their toll, and by the 1920s local oyster production was nearly wiped out. As the bay was cleaned up and marine biologists - like the three men who run Hog Island Oyster Co. on Tomales Bay - entered the picture, the waning years of the 20th century saw a revival. Now, Johnson's Oyster Co. on Drake's Estero, Hog Island and four other companies operate on Tomales Bay. You can buy and slurp oysters right on their properties.

-- UC Davis. Located on 5,200 acres of land near Sacramento, the UC Davis College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences houses 19 departments and 400 faculty. The college is one of the top agricultural education facilties in the world, and is well-known around the world for research on livestock, wine and how to solve global hunger by increasing food production. The college is responsible for developing most of the strawberry varieties we eat. The enology department is the largest university winemaking and grape-growing program in the country.

-- Swan Oyster Depot. When you climb onto one of the 20 metal stools at this Polk Street institution, you know exactly what you are going to get - no nouveau anything, no fusion or menu mumbo jumbo. You are going to slurp oysters harvested only hours ago, dig into a cracked Dungeness crab or a crisp shrimp Louis, maybe preceded by a bowl of bracing clam chowder - the only hot food served here besides steamed soft-shell crabs. The Sancimino brothers who run the place are the sons of Sicilian-born fisherman Sal, who bought Swan's in 1946 from a family who had run it since the teens.

-- Alice Waters. Waters is the patron saint of sustainable agriculture, and she practices what she preaches at her 30-year-old restaurant, Chez Panisse, in Berkeley. Unlike other noted chefs, who spread their influence by opening more restaurants in far-flung cities, she has chosen to become a social activist and talks of the connection between the human spirit and the land. Through her efforts, she's put gardens in school yards and prisons, and has encouraged hundreds of farmers to raise specialty crops that would otherwise go uncultivated. More than any other person in the country, she's showed us how to love, respect and honor what we eat.

-- Small plates. Thanks to many Bay Area chefs , tapas have become nearly as generic as french fries and Champagne. The word refers to small Spanish appetizers, but here the term is extended to mean small dishes of every cuisine - and more of them are served on menus of Bay Area restaurants than anywhere else. Last year alone, three restaurants opened serving French- inspired tapas - Chez Nous, Isa and Alfy's. They're not only delicious, they're showing us another way to eat.

-- Robert Mondavi. Still going strong into his eighth decade, Mondavi has been a promoter of wine and the good life. As head of the Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley, he has opened foreign markets to other wineries as well as his own and has pioneered winemaking techniques that are now used worldwide.

Most importantly, he has been generous with his knowledge. Vintners around the world honor him because he's kept no secrets, has shared what he's learned and has treated his competitors like friends. Mondavi is also the driving force behind the the almost-complete American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts,

also known as Copia.

-- Organics. Northern California is the nation's organic leader. No other area cultivates and supports the sheer number of organic businesses. You'll find producers from Straus Family Creamery to home-delivery services like Bay Area Organic Xpress. The national movement to quantify organic farming began in 1973 with the California Certified Organic Farmers, a Santa Cruz operation that is still the leader in promoting sustainable organic agriculture.

-- Domaine Chandon. Nearly 25 years ago, this French-owned winery - following the lead of the pioneering Schramsberg Winery - showed the world that great sparkling wine could be made in the Napa Valley. It also was the first to open a major restaurant in the winery, which is still going strong.

-- Greens. Greens shattered all perceptions about stodgy vegetarian food when it opened in an airy warehouse in Fort Mason. With its innovative menu and unparalleled view, it quickly became a nationwide destination. The kitchen is now headed by Annie Somerville, and has maintained its edge by reflecting the Bay Area's changing palate and offering food that is lighter and less dairy-dependant than when it opened.

Greens, Building A, Fort Mason, San Francisco, (415) 771-6222.

-- Duarte's Tavern. Frank Duarte opened this Pescadero tavern along a stagecoach route in 1894. It eventually grew to a regular restaurant, is still run by Frank's descendants and serves some of the specialties that go back 100 years - creamy-rich artichoke soup, chile soup and ollalieberry pie.

Duarte's Tavern, 202 Stage Road, (650) 879-0464.

-- Rouge et Noir. Camembert and schloss, quintessential European cheeses, have been hand-made at the Marin French Cheese Co. since 1865. Marketed under the Rouge et Noir label, they're the only domestic versions produced.

-- Free-range poultry. Northern California is the home of the designer bird.

Diestel Turkey Ranch in Sonora, and Willie Bird and Rocky in Petaluma raise some of the best free-range poultry in the country, and are shipped all over the world. The Willie Bird, which many considered the gold standard of turkeys,

is featured in the Williams-Sonoma catalog, where a bird goes for as high as $100 apiece.

-- Lemon Drop. This popular drink was developed at Henry Africa's in San Francisco, the now-defunct watering hole that was one of the country's better- known fern bars in the 1960s. The drink is an addictive mixture of lemon juice,

vodka and simple syrup, served ice cold in a sugar-rimmed martini glass.

-- Upscale ethnic. In most American cities, ethnic restaurants are pretty casual, but the Bay Area has pioneered upscaling the experience. In the 1960s, Cecilia Chiang started the trend by opening The Mandarin in Ghirardelli Square,

with lush decor, seamless service and stunning presentations. In recent years,

Tommy Toy's, Shanghai 1930 and Xanadu have opened as elaborate stages for Chinese food; Kokkari and Evvia for Greek food; Slanted Door, Ana Mandara and Le Colonial for Vietnamese cuisine; and Gaylord India, Ajanta and Amber India for Indian food.

-- AsiaSF. Where else can you get gender illusionists who lip-sync cabaret tunes as they strut across the bar and then step down to serve dinner? The food is terrific and innovative, including juicy ahi burgers, duck quesadillas,

orange lamb and a trio of tiny ice cream cones.

AsiaSF, 201 Ninth St., San Francisco; (415) 255-2742.

-- Heirloom produce. When Georgeanne Brennan (now a Chronicle food columnist) and Charlotte Glenn launched Le Marche seeds in Dixon in 1982, few cooks had ever heard of mesclun, arugula or bull's horn peppers - all items in their early catalogs. Brennan and Glenn unearthed old-time varieties valued for flavor, and now local farmers' markets and produce stores offer a number of these vegetables.

-- Nutritional bars. Berkeley is the home to Clif Bar and Power Bar, the nutritional bars that launched the mainstream trend. Half Moon Bay-based Odwalla has added a line of bars to its fresh juice business.

-- Niman Ranch. Call it ranching with a conscience. For more than 20 years, Bill Niman has provided Bay Area carnivores with beef produced the old- fashioned way - no steroids, no preventive antibiotics, all-natural feed, and extended dry-aging to intensify flavor. Now he's added pork and lamb to the fold. Local restaurants from Absinthe to Zuni insist on Niman Ranch meats. Shoppers can find some of the line at Andronico's, Cafe Rouge in Berkeley, Trader Joe's and online at www.nimanranch.com.

-- Wine-lovers. Bay Area residents drink more wine than anywhere else in the country - almost 5 gallons of wine per person per year, compared to the national average of 2 gallons per person per year. So it's no surprise that we also support some of the country's leading specialty wine merchants, like PlumpJack in San Francisco and Kermit Lynch in Berkeley.

-- Hamburger Mary's. Virtually every restaurant in San Francisco is gay- friendly, but that wasn't always the case. In 1972, a group of gay and lesbian waiters and cooks got together and created the kitchy Hamburger Mary's. With wild interior design, and hamburgers on wheat bread with sprouts, it became sort of a queer T.G.I.Fridays and a reliable place for gay folks to take their visiting Midwestern parents.

Hamburger Mary's, 1582 Folsom St., San Francisco; (415) 626-1985.

-- Tourists. They flock to San Francisco because of our restaurants. According to the San Francisco Convention & Visitors Bureau, an average of 146, 000 people visit the city each day, spending $51.90 per person per day at restaurants.

-- Bonny Doon Vineyard. In 1983, when Randall Grahm set up shop at Bonny Doon Vineyard in the Santa Cruz Mountains, skeptics said that his non- mainstream wines, with their oddball names, would never fly. Time, marketing genius and a string of very good wines, like Clos de Gilroy and Le Cigare Volant, has proven the skeptics wrong.

-- Cabernet Sauvignon. Northern California leads the nation in producing Cabernet Sauvignon, considered the King of Red Wines. Among the nation's most sought-out producers - and the hardest to find - are Grace Family Vineyard, Bryant Family Vineyards, Harlan Estate Winery and Screaming Eagle.

-- Dittmer's. Fresh lard may be an anathema to strict health-conscious eaters, but it's absolutely essential to making tamales. Some of the best is produced at Dittmer's in Mountain View.

-- Liberty Duck. You've had them braised at Bay Wolf, stir-fried at Slanted Door, in salads at Chez Panisse. Jim Reichardt's Liberty Ducks have waddled onto countless Bay Area menus in the eight years since Reichardt broke away from his family's duck business and launched his own. Reichardt raises a strain of Pekin duck that matures more slowly than most, with more meat and less fat. Look for them at Enzo's and Cafe Rouge in Oakland, at Vallerga's in Napa, or at Ernie's Meats and Sunshine Foods in St. Helena. Or, order directly from Sonoma County Poultry, (800) 953-8257.

-- Professional cooking schools. The Bay Area is the epicenter for training professional chefs. The California Culinary Academy has trained such stars as Mark Franz of Farallon, Arnold Eric Wong of Eos and Bacar, and Kirk Webber of Cafe Kati. In addition there are programs at City College of San Francisco, Diablo Valley College and Tante Marie's. For chefs who need a little brushing- up, there's the Culinary Institute of America at Greystone in St. Helena, a continuing-ed campus with every amenity.

-- Coffee. The Bay Area has a long coffee tradition; not too many years ago,

all the major brands were located here, including Maxwell House, Folger's, MJB and Hills Brothers. We still have many independents - Peet's, Graffeo, Mr. Espresso, Spinelli and Freed, Teller & Freed, the latter via mail-order at (800) 370-7371.

-- Peet's Coffee and Tea. Long before Seattle had Starbucks, Berkeley had Peet's. Alfred Peet taught a generation - and Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz, a former Peet's employee - to take coffee and tea seriously. Today, Peet's operates 57 stores and is publicly traded, but the mother church that Alfred Peet opened in 1966 still draws caffeine-aholics to the corner of Walnut and Vine in Berkeley.

Peet's Coffee and Tea, 2124 Vine St., Berkeley; (510) 841-0564.

-- Food as politics. Nowhere else in the country have so many food businesses started out as political statements. Many of them have evolved into gourmet hangouts but they began as cooperatives or collectives. That includes Rainbow Grocery, Other Avenues Community Store, the Cheese Board and Arizmendi.

Nabolom Bakery, another Berkeley collective, still dispenses left-of-center philosophy along with great breads, buns and the like.

-- Hangtown Fry. When 49ers, flush with gold, could afford precious oysters with their eggs, they asked for this dish. Named after the Sierra foothill town of Hangtown (now Placerville), this bacon-laced oyster omelet was a culinary status symbol.

-- Top of the Mark. The pairing of a bar with a world-class view was ground- breaking when it was launched in 1939. Located on top of the Mark Hopkins Hotel, the bar, became the favorite of American servicemen being shipped to the Pacific theater in World War II. In 1996 it was closed for a complete redo,

and it's once again a 360-degree sensation.

Top of the Mark, No. 1 Nob Hill (California and Mason streets), San Francisco; (415) 616-6916.

-- Liguria Bakery. This tiny shop made focaccia long before it became a trend. You'll find the shop on the same corner in North Beach where three brothers opened it in 1911. The flatbread hasn't changed in decades, say George and Michael Soracco, son and grandson of one of the founders.

Liguria Bakery, 1700 Stockton St., San Francisco; (415) 421-3786.

-- Copia. Washington, D.C. may have the Smithsonian, but Napa has the American Center for Wine, Food & the Arts, recently rechristened Copia. There's nothing like it anywhere in the world. When it opens in November, the educational center will have gallery space, teaching kitchens, an auditorium, an outdoor amphitheater, a restaurant and cafe, and 3¤ acres of landscaped gardens intended as outdoor classrooms.

-- Bakers Dozen. An informal group of 12 friends and bakers organized in 1988 by Marion Cunningham has become the leading forum for bakers, pastry chefs and baking enthusiasts to share their passion. Now 375 members strong, the group's first cookbook is due out this fall.

-- Irish coffee. The late Chronicle columnist Stanton Delaplane encountered the steaming whisky- and cream-laced concoction decades ago at Shannon Airport in Ireland and when he returned to San Francisco, he persuaded bartenders at the Buena Vista Cafe to make it. Now a bar standard, visitors and locals still flock to the Buena Vista to sip the perfect version at a window table.

-- Green Goddess dressing. San Francisco's Palace Hotel chef Philip Roemer created this now-classic dressing in 1923, naming it after the hit play of the day by William Archer. A hallmark of the famed Garden Court Salad, the mayonnaise-based dressing takes its hue from parsley, tarragon, chives and scallions, and is accented with garlic and anchovies.

-- Meyer lemons. Aromatic and extra juicy, the unique Meyer lemon is the Bay Area's most public secret. They're in back yards everywhere and, increasingly, are becoming a commercial crop finding its way to the East Coast.

First brought to the state in 1908 from the Far East, Meyer lemons became the darling of chefs everywhere after first appearing at Alice Waters' Chez Panisse in the 1970s.

-- Thomas E. Cara, Ltd. Cara was the first business in San Francisco and likely the West Coast to sell Italian espresso machines. Now in its third location, the store was founded in North Beach in 1946 by Thomas and Mary Cara.

-- Asian produce. Unlike elsewhere in the country, cooks in the Bay Area rarely have to throw out an Asian recipe because they can't find the vegetables. From bok choy and wo sun (steam lettuce) to po qwa (bottle gourd) and rambutan (Malaysian soapberry fruit), produce common to the menus of China,

Japan, Southeast Asia and India are stacked high in markets on all sides of the bay. For a good guide to produce bins, pick up "The Asian Grocery Store Demystified," by Linda Bladholm.

-- Jellie Bellies. The jelly bean of movie stars and presidents (who are sometimes one and the same) are made in Fairfield. Call (707) 428-2838 for information.

-- Anchor Steam. With its signature beer, Anchor Steam, the company is credited with reviving America's hand-crafted beer tradition. The microbrew movement started here, getting a jumpstart when San Francisco's Anchor Brewing Co. was purchased by Fritz Maytag (of washing machine fame) in 1965.

-- View restaurants. A lot of restaurants dating back to the early part of the 20th - even the late 19th - century owe their lasting attraction to spectacular views of the bay, hills, bridges and ocean: Tarantino's on Fisherman's Wharf (1946); the Cliff House (1863); Louis' diner on the Great Highway (1937); Sam's in Tiburon (1920); the genteel Alta Mira Hotel in Sausalito (1895); the haunted Moss Beach Distillery (1927), among others in San Francisco.

-- Farm-raised caviar. In 1849, thousands were lured by gold. San Francisco caviar importers Mats and Dafne Engstrom seek a different kind of gold from the Sacramento River - caviar from California-raised sturgeon. Their Sunshine Fine Foods Co. was one of the first to focus on high-quality domestic caviar and still does a thriving business under the Tsar Nicoulai label.

-- Food Runners & Project Open Hand. In the Bay Area, compassion and social concern have always gone hand in hand with an appreciation of good food. Local chefs and other hospitality industry people channel food to the needy through such programs as the pioneering Food Runners, founded by cooking teacher Mary Risley, which collects leftover food from some of the finest restaurants for distribution to hunger-fighting programs. Project Open Hand, the brain child of retired San Francisco book store clerk Ruth Brinker, has become a model for feeding people afflicted with symptomatic HIV and AIDS nationwide.

Food Runners, (415) 929-1866. Project Open Hand, (415) 447-2400.

-- Feeding the needy. Soup kitchens abound across the land, but few can rival two programs in San Francisco's Tenderloin. St. Anthony Dining Room was founded in 1950 by the late Franciscan Father Alfred Boeddeker, who not only believed it a duty to feed the hungry, but to do so in a dignified manner and without cramming religion down their throats. Serving more than 2,000 meals a day, 365 days a year, the half-century-old organization has dished out somewhere in the neighborhood of 30 million meals. Glide Memorial Church started a weekly dinner in the 1960s and launched an ambitious three-meals-a- day program under the leadership of the charismatic Rev. Cecil Williams in 1981. Glide now serves an estimated 3,800 clients a day.

-- Historic businesses. Most cities - even on the longer-settled East Coast - are lucky to have a handful of 50-year-old restaurants, but in the Bay Area, we can name well over a hundred, from bars and restaurants to grocery stores and shops. Here are a few: Double Play bar and restaurant near the old Seals Stadium was born in 1909. Mayes Oyster House, founded in 1867 was a popular hangout of political movers and shakers. Baltic in Pt. Richmond, a bar since 1904, has at various times also accommodated city hall, a speakeasy, a bordello and a funeral parlor. Takahashi Market has been serving the Asian and Hawaiian communities in San Mateo since 1906.

-- It's Its began making ice cream sandwiches in 1928 as a concession at Playland by the Beach; it's now manufactured in Burlingame (factory not open to the public).

-- Webb Ranch, a 250-acre family farm has been growing and selling exquisite berries, sweet corn, tomatoes, green beans, squash, pumpkins and other field crops and selling them direct to the public at its farm stand for nearly 60 years.

Webb Ranch, 2720 Alpine Road, Menlo Park; (650) 854-5417.

-- Cookbook authors. The list of authors who have influenced how the nation cooks could go on for pages. Here's a sampling: Marion Cunningham, the modern- day Fannie Farmer is the doyen of American home cooking; James McNair has 35 books to his name. Paula Wolfert amd Joanne Weir, both experts on Mediterranan cooking; Carol Field on Italian cooking; Flo Braker on baking.

-- Ratto's International Grocers. Italian food has a long history here but one of the most historic strongholds is in Old Oakland, where new immigrant Giovanni Battista Ratto founded a store in 1897, intent on selling the food stuffs he couldn't find here.

Ratto's International Grocers, 821 Washington St., (510) 832-6503.

-- Williams-Sonoma. The name is synonymous with quality cookware across the land, but it all started in the little town of Sonoma. Like many American tourists of the 1950s, Chuck Williams was awestruck not only by the foods of Europe but by the utensils and gadgets that made it possible to produce crispy pizzas, chunky terrines and silky mousses. So he devoted part of an old hardware store he was remodeling in Sonoma to imported cookware. Forty-five years later, after uncountable trips to Europe and a corporate buy-out, Williams is still at it. The company now consists of more than 100 stores nationwide.

-- Eating for charity. Two organizations have pioneered the idea of connecting rehabilitation and food. Rubicon Bakery's cakes, tarts, tortes and small pastries fill the shelves of some of the Bay Area's best markets. The bakery is part of Rubicon Programs Inc., a 27-year-old nonprofit agency that provides job training and placement, housing and counseling to needy people, many of them formerly homeless, fighting dependency problems or otherwise disadvantaged. Delancey Street was started by Mimi Silbert nearly 25 years ago. For the past 10 years, the organization has run an American-style restaurant completely staffed by program participants who are homeless, former ex- convicts and drug abusers.

-- Fusion. Fusion food is still a national craze, but it started here as a natural evolution from the influence of an ever-growing Chinese population. As far back as 15 years ago, chefs of otherwise American or California restaurants such as Cindy Pawlcyn of Fog City Diner and Jeremiah Tower at Stars were experimenting with ingredients like soy sauce, ginger and star anise. Since then, full-blown fusion restaurants like Oritalia, Cafe Kati and Eos hit the scene in S.F..

-- Goat cheese. Laura Chenel virtually invented the domestic goat cheese business in 1979, when she began selling her French-inspired hand-crafted cheeses, made from the milk of her pet goats. Eventually, other producers jumped on the bandwagon, but Northern California cheeses still lead the herd. Today, Chenel produces about 700,000 pounds a year from her plant in Sonoma County. Without her there'd be no goat cheese croutons on your spring greens salad.

-- Sake. Northern Californians aren't just in love with wine made from grapes - we're also fascinated with sake. The Bay Area lays claim to three of the biggest sake producers in America - Takara Sake in Berkeley, Hakusan in Napa and Gekkeikan in Folsom. Many San Francisco restaurants are starting another trend by serving sake martinis and other drinks made with this pleasant rice wine.

-- Cognac. Germain-Robin Alambic, a partnership between Californian Ansley Coale and Frenchman Hubert Germain-Robin, distills brandy in the hills outside Ukiah that is as close to Cognac as it gets. Now operating with two alambics (spirits stills), Germain-Robin is combining the distilling skills he learned in Cognac with the fruitiness he's found in California grapes to make a unique product that has brandy lovers queuing up across the country.

-- Brew pubs. The brewing revolution started in Northern California. In 1983, when California became the first state to legalize the operation of brew pubs, Michael Laybourn, Norman Franks and John Scahill founded the very first one - Mendocino Brewing Co. Buffalo Bill's Brewery opened later the same year in Hayward, becoming the first in the immediate Bay Area. There are 131 brewpubs in California, 39 in the Bay Area alone, including Gordon Biersch, with several locations; Triple Rock Brewing Co.; Marin Brewing Co.; ThirstyBear; and 21st Amendment.

-- North Beach. Along with Chinatown, North Beach helped define the ethnic makeup of the San Francisco throughout much of the 20th century - and helped put Italian food into the country's mainstream. Here you could find old- country delis, bakeries, coffee roasteries and housewares stores. Many survive to this day - Molinari deli and its trademark salami (373 Columbus); Liguria Bakery, with its focaccia (1700 Stockton); Stella Bakery, renowned for biscotti and rich sacripantina (446 Columbus); Victoria Bakery and its St. Honore cake (1362 Stockton); coffee emporiums Graffeo and Caffe Trieste roasters (735 Columbus and 609 Vallejo, respectively), and Biondi Art Imports (412 Columbus).

-- Super produce markets. Visitors from both in and outside of the Bay Area marvel at two slices of produce nirvana in Berkeley. Monterey Foods - which almost everybody calls Monterey Market - has grown from a single storefront mom-and-pop green grocer to a sprawling market place of produce, along with dairy and grocery basics. A full line of groceries is available at Berkeley Bowl, founded in an old bowling alley 24 years ago. Now housed in large, new quarters, it features possibly the nation's single largest selection of fruits and vegetables - from standard and heirloom American to Asian, Latino and European boutique varieties.

-- 24th Street. Other urban areas have large Mexican and Central American neighborhoods, but San Francisco's 24th Street is something special. On a handful of blocks south of Mission Street, you'll find three culinary institutions that have been around since the 1920s, including Roosevelt Tamale Parlor and Casa Sanchez, a taqueria that now sells fresh chips and salsas in supermarkets around the Bay Area. More recent generations of Mexican and Central American immigrants have opened up La Palma Mexicatessen, purveyor of delicious tortillas and tamales hand-made of fresh masa; Casa Lucas Market, one of the Bay Area's best sources for Latin-American produce and food products; and countless more meat markets, bakeries and restaurants. Roosevelt Tamale Parlor, 2817 24th St.; 550-9213. La Palma, 2884 24th St. (415) 647-1500.

-- Mission-style burritos. This San Francisco burrito - meat, rice, beans, cheese, sour cream, salsa, guacamole and lettuce rolled into a super-size tortilla - is an entirely different dish from what originated in northern Mexico, where flour tortillas tend to be more common than corn tortillas. Now as all-American as burgers and fries, the dish was first made by workers in San Francisco taquerias in the 1960s, who assembled them conveyor-belt style. La Cumbre was one of the first, and favorites like La Taqueria and Pancho Villa followed suit.

-- San Francisco Professional Food Society. The first of what is now a nationwide association of food support groups was organized in San Francisco in 1978 by Charles Gautreaux, then a manager at the Williams-Sonoma store on Sutter Street. With a core group of about a dozen, he founded the society, which has now grown to 370 members and spawned dozens of similar groups nationwide.

San Francisco Professional Food Society, (650) 344-0878.

-- Cookin'. You can always go to Williams-Sonoma or Sur La Table for stainless steel pots and ceramic Dutch ovens. But this second-hand shop offers high-end cookware at reduced prices. Crowded into a tiny space is an enormous assortment of French cookware, including towering stacks of colorful Le Creuset pans, baking pans, serving dishes, tableware and gadgets of all stripes. Cookin', 339 Divisadero, (415) 861-1854.

-- Japantowns. San Francisco, San Jose and San Mateo all have Japantowns, culinary and cultural areas that cater to the Japanese community and offer a wealth of Japanese specialty foods.

In San Francisco, Japantown is a built-up indoor commercial center on Geary Avenue, encompassing sushi bars, restaurants, grocers, bakeries and stores, with the adjoining Radisson Miyako Hotel and additional businesses located along neighboring streets. In San Jose and San Mateo, the community centers around a few blocks.

-- Teleme cheese. California's best-selling specialty cheese, this is a true Bay Area native. The story goes that a Greek immigrant in Pleasanton tried to make feta. It didn't work out all that well, but Giovanni Peluso, an Italian-born cheesemaker, picked up the recipe, tweaked it and produced a creamy, slightly tart but not salty version that's actually closer to an Italian Stracchino. Peluso Teleme was born in 1925, and Giovanni's son and grandson, Frank and Franklin, still make it at their Los Banos Peluso Cheese Co.

-- Wente Brothers Winery. The Wente name is written large in the history of wine-making in America, going back to 1883. Wente wines quickly gained a following, particularly after 1912 when Carl's son Ernest, who studied agriculture at the University of California at Davis, decided to plant Chardonnay, the white Burgundian grape then barely known in this country. Today, around 80 percent of California Chardonnay owes its existence to heat- treated Clone 4, the "Wente Clone." Now, with fourth-generation Carolyn Wente as president, there's the winery, a hospitality and visitors center with tasting room, an acclaimed restaurant. There's even a Greg Norman golf course.

-- Delis. If we have heard it once, we have heard it a thousand times: The Bay Area doesn't have New York's delis. Fact is, we don't. But we have our own deli tradition. It's mostly Italian, with a few other nationalities - Germans and Scandinavians - thrown in for good measure.

-- Oakville Grocery. It started in 1881 as a "mercantile," a general store plus post office, but since 1978 the old-fashioned swinging doors of the little store on Highway 29 have swung open on a showcase for Northern California's burgeoning artisanal producers, featuring everything from Sonoma lamb to olive oils, wines, cheeses, preserves, tapenade and more. These are augmented by some top-drawer imports. Starting in 1980, Oakville branched out and now has stores in such places as Healdsburg, the Stanford Shopping Center and Walnut Creek.

-- Chinatown. San Francisco's Chinatown is the largest in the world outside of China, and San Francisco's Clement Street, San Jose and Oakland aren't far behind.

-- Asian supermarkets. A whole world of Asian supermarkets are springing up away from the traditional Chinatowns and Japantowns. You'll find more shops in the Bay Area, than anywhere else. Here are a few: Ranch 99 (with locations from San Jose to Richmond; Yaohan in San Jose (no longer part of the huge Japanese chain, it still seems like a replica of Yaohan grocery/department stores in Japan; a chain of Marina Food markets on the Peninsula and in the South Bay; the First Korean Market at 4625 Geary Boulevard in San Francisco, and the full-service Korean Pusan Plaza Family Market at 2370 Telegraph Ave., Oakland.

-- Wood-fired pizza. The very first wood-burning oven on the west coast was built inside Tommaso's, a 65-year-old restaurant in North Beach. That oven influenced a whole movement that began with a wood-burning pizza oven at Chez Panisse and moved to other top-drawer restaurants, eventually spawning Wolfgang Puck's pizza revolution. Tommaso's, 1042 Kearny St., San Francisco; (415) 398-9696.

-- Central Valley. Our proximity to the nation's salad bowl means Bay Area residents get the best of what California's vast growing region has to offer in grapes, lettuce, cherries, pears, almonds - well, you get the picture. California has 89,000 farms and eight of the nation's top 10 producing counties.

Marion Cunningham. Heading into her 80th year, she's the quintessential American home cook. Cunningham is the author of "The Fannie Farmer Cookbook," "The Fannie Farmer Baking Book" and four other books, including "Learning to Cook With Marion Cunningham." More importantly, she's Mother Confessor to half the professional food world, with scores of devoted friends ranging from Chez Panisse's Alice Waters and Fifth Floor's George Morrone to Gourmet editor Ruth Reichl and Metropolitan Home editor Donna Warner. The protege of James Beard, Cunningham is also on a crusade to remind us what we're losing when we turn away from the family dinner table.

-- Chez Panisse. If we had to list one restaurant in modern history that changed the way Americans eat, it would be Chez Panisse, which will celebrate its 30th anniversary in August. The restaurant has turned out more chefs and authors - Paul Bertolli, Jeremiah Tower, Joanne Weir, to name a few - and created an almost cultlike devotion to freshness. Almost single-handedly, Chez Panisse founder Alice Waters turned farming into a glamorous profession. Getting your product in the door at Chez Panisse is akin to winning an Oscar.

Chez Panisse, 1517 Shattuck Ave., Berkeley; (510) 548-5049.

-- Chocolate. While the Bay Area has had a long love affair with chocolate, beginning in 1852 when Ghirardelli started production, we are also home to the first chocolate company to be founded in the United States in the last 50 years. In 1996, John Scharffenberger and Robert Steinberg launched Scharffen Berger Chocolate Maker in South San Francisco, pictured above, and began producing a top-of-the line chocolate that is sought out by pastry chefs and chocolatiers around the world. When the company moves to more elaborate headquarters in Berkeley later this year, it will become a destination for chocoholic tourists. Ghirardelli maintains a historic site in Ghirardelli Square, although it's now owned by the Swiss maker Lindt and manufactured in San Leandro. Guittard, founded in 1868, is still family-owned, and is headquartered in Burlingame. And that's not all. Other world-class chocolatiers in the Bay Area include Michael Recchuiti, Joseph Schmidt and Alfred Schilling.

-- Garlic. Gilroy and the surrounding area grows much of the 600 million pounds harvested in the state each year. For the last 22 years, Gilroy has also hosted the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, the world's largest tribute to the Stinking Rose, which has attracted more than 2 million aficionados.

-- Wine bars. Bacar is the latest - and maybe the greatest - Bay Area spot to serve an extensive selection of wines by the glass. But it's certainly not the first - London Wine Bar is almost 30 years old and is considered one of the oldest wine bars in the United States. Other great wine bars include Eos, First Crush, Hayes and Vine, and Solano Wine Cellars.

One of the leaders of the boutique olive oil movement is Nan McEvoy, who has just bottled her sixth harvest, her second since being certified organic. The Marin county ranch, located near Petaluma, now includes more than 11,000 Italian trees. The oil is available at upscale supermarkets and specialty shops.

Several wineries also produce olive oil, including B.R. Cohn, Jordan and Ridge. At the Olive Press you can process your own olives.

Last fall, the Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose in Fremont made headlines across the country when they revived an old tradition - producing high quality extra-virgin olive oil from the 200-plus century-old olive trees on the their property.

Even restaurants are getting into the act: Frantoio, an Italian restaurant in Marin, custom-presses olives in its big stone grinder visible to diners.

-- Cowgirl Creamery. In much of this country, even cheese lovers barely know what quark is. Here they can watch this relative of ricotta being made and taste it fresh out of the cheese room, thanks to Sue Conley and Peggy Smith (right) of Cowgirl Creamery in Pt. Reyes Station. A little over a year ago, the duo opened a retail store in San Francisco, also specializing in fresh and locally-produced hand-crafted cheese, as well as British and European farmhouse cheese.

-- Dim sum. Historians say that Chinese dim sum was introduced to American in San Francisco's Chinatown. Those dumplings we've enjoyed for decades is just beginning to be enjoyed by the rest of the country. You can find dozens of examples in the Bay Area, but we have three favorites: Ton Kiang, Fook Yuen and Yank Sing, whose servers Mei Lung, Coco Chan and Lu Qing are pictured above.

-- Martini. Some people will argue exactly where this drink was invented, but most experts believe it originated in the Bay Area. One school says it was originally called a Martinez, named after the Bay Area town where it was created. Others say it was a concoction created at the Occidental Hotel bar in San Francisco. We won't even get into the debate of whether this gin and vermouth mixture should be stirred or shaken. And, one olive or two? It's your choice.

-- Fortune cookies. Legend has that fortune cookies were first served in the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park early in the century. But no matter where they come from, most of what you get in bakeries and restaurants is baked at the Golden Gate Fortune Cookie factory in Chinatown. They've been made there since 1962, and it's the place to head to if you want a big bag of really fresh, snappy ones.

If the Bay Area had an official food icon, this crustacean would be among the top nominees. The commercial crab industry began off the San Francisco coast just before the Gold Rush. Today, some 700 crab boats ply the ocean from Bodega Bay to Monterey during crabbing season and on good years pull in more than 4 million pounds of crab. Looking for a place to dine on great crab? Head to Thanh Long, a Vietnamese restaurant that has been doing it better than just about anybody for 30 years. Thanh Long, 4101 Judah St., San Francisco; (415) 665-1146.

-- Edible Schoolyard. Leave it to Alice Waters to dream up a fantasy project incorporating kids, schools, gardens and cooking. And leave it to Alice Waters to make it real. The Edible Schoolyard garden at Berkeley's Martin Luther King, Jr. Middle School thrives where asphalt used to be.

-- Farmers' markets. Whether your dinner party calls for cannellini beans, chile greens or haricots verts, you can probably find them at Bay Area farmers' markets. In season, of course. More than 50 markets, one in nearly every Bay Area community, bring cooks the best of the harvest - from baby turnips in winter and green garlic in spring, to sour cherries in summer and shelling beans in the fall. Even more important, they help small family farms survive by providing growers like Kalayeda Beutel of K & J Orchards, above, with a profitable outlet for their crops.

-- Coffee houses. The Italian espresso in San Francisco's small, quirky coffee houses helped launch the Beat Movement nearly 50 years ago. The Bay Area's independent coffee houses have also served as organizing grounds for the labor, political and social causes that have reverberated from the Bay Area to the rest of the country. John Giotta is credited with serving the first real cappuccino in the city at Caffe Trieste, which opened in 1956 in North Beach.

Caffe Trieste, 601 Vallejo, (415) 392-6739.

We Want Your Ideas

Did we miss an important reason why the Bay Area is such a culinary trend- setter? If you know a person, product or business that sets the Bay Area apart and that is not in today's Food section, please let us know so we can include it in our continuing coverage of the unique Bay Area food scene.